CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN – OUT TO THE CLUB

Her phone buzzed again. This time, it was a message from her best friend, Jenna. "Girl, we're going out tonight! No excuses. I'll be there in an hour. Wear something hot!" Mara hesitated. She wasn't really in the mood for a night out, but the thought of staying in her apartment, surrounded by reminders of her current predicament, was even less appealing. "Okay, fine. But I'm not staying out late!" she texted back. An hour later, Mara found herself being dragged into a pulsing nightclub by Jenna and two other friends from work, Lisa and Sarah. The music was deafening, the bass thrumming through her body as they made their way to the bar. "Four shots of tequila!" Jenna shouted to the bartender over the music. Mara shook her head. "Jenna, I don't think-" "No thinking tonight, honey," Jenna interrupted, pressing a shot glass into Mara's hand. "Tonight, we dance our troubles away!" Against her better judgment, Mara threw back the shot, wincing at the burn. As the alcohol warmed her